Lt. Col. Waldo Waldman: Decorated Top Gun Talks Wingman Philosophy Virtually Speaking Ep. 64

Lt. Col. Waldo Waldman, \”The Wingman\”, and a real TOP GUN, is the author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller \”Never Fly Solo,\” which draws from his experiences as a decorated F-16 Fighter Pilot and businessman.

Waldo flew 65 combat missions and as result earned numerous awards in the Air Force, including the Air Medal, the Aerial Achievement Award, the Air Force Commendation Medal, and the Meritorious Service Medal. Waldo is a hall of fame speaker who also earned an MBA, and as a businessman he was named one of 40 under 40 business leaders in Atlanta by the Atlanta Business Journal.

He’s appeared on Fox News, Harvard Business Review, NBC, Inc. Magazine, Bloomberg Businessweek, and on CNN interviewed by Sanja Gupta.

For more or to book Waldo to speak: https://speakers.calentertainment.com/profile/6542?btsc=1

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Lt. Col. Waldo Waldman: Decorated Top Gun Talks Wingman Philosophy

This is Virtually Speaking. Joining us on this episode is Lieutenant Colonel Waldo Waldman, the Wing Man and a real top gun. He\’s the author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller Never Fly Solo, drawing from his experiences as a combat decorated F-16 fighter pilot and as a businessman. Waldo earned numerous awards in the Air Force, including the Air Medal, the Aerial Achievement Award, the Air Force Commendation Medal, and the Meritorious Service Medal.

Waldo is a Hall of Fame speaker who also earned an MBA, and as a businessman, he was named one of the top 40 Under 40 business leaders in Atlanta by the Atlanta Business Journal. He\’s appeared on Fox News, Harvard Business Review, NBC, Inc Magazine, Bloomberg, Business Week, and on CNN, interviewed by Sanjay Gupta. Please join me with top gun, Waldo Waldman.

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Waldo Waldman, thank you for joining me here on the show. How are you?

I’m doing awesome. Great to be here, Chris.

Thank you, sir. I\’m so happy to have you. You are one of my favorites, and this is something I have been looking forward to. This is such great timing. The movie Top Gun is out. The biggest opening in the history of Hollywood. People are going back into the theaters, which is great. The 4th of July is around the corner. Who better to have than an actual top gun, combat-tested pilot of an F-16, New York Times bestseller who is at the top of the game when it comes to speaking and with a former military background? Once you are in the military, you are always in the military.

Always. It never leaves your blood.

Did you see Top Gun? Did you see the movie?

Absolutely, with my wife and another couple and my kid. It was awesome. We had such a great time. I loved it.

Did you like the original one as well?

I liked the original one. I was eighteen years old when I saw it. I just finished basic training at the Air Force Academy. Watching that on TV and seeing the movie, I was with a thousand other cadets. We were all fired up and ready to fly jets. To have that beacon, that true north of where we wanted to be. Most of us went to the academy because we wanted to fly. I always had a dream of serving my country and flying fighters. Watching that was great. It was a good way to stay focused. When you see the reality of your future in front of you, I don\’t care if it\’s in Hollywood or at an air show.

[bctt tweet=\”When you\’re facing adversity or have an opportunity in business or your personal life, you\’re not doing it alone. You can always reach out to a wingman for help.\” username=\”calentertainmnt\”]

It grounds you and gives you something to shoot for. It was special for me. I thought the 1st movie was a little more cheesy than the 2nd. There weren’t cheesy moments in the second one but I felt it was great because it was so fundamental on teamwork, courage, trust, and resilience. There were winners and losers. It didn\’t matter your background, the color of your skin, if you were female or male. Everybody was working together to accomplish the goal, take the fight to the enemy, and win. America and the world needed that show, that reinforcement of what makes our country so special.

The message is clear. America, maybe subconsciously or consciously, is thinking about togetherness. We are one. We are a nation. We have so much division between us, politically and on many other issues. Hopefully, there\’s this underlying knowledge that we are all humans and Americans. We need each other.

That\’s the premise I know of your speech that has been for many years. You are a wingman. You are never alone. You are never flying solo. That\’s the name of your New York Times bestseller. It was also on several other bestseller lists but Never Fly Solo. Obviously, you see that in this movie. You see that when you see, you speak. You talk about these themes. What does Never Fly Solo mean to you at this time in space in the world?

It ultimately means that when you are facing adversity or even have an opportunity in your life and business or your personal life, you are not doing it alone. You can always reach out to a wingman or a wing ma’am and ask for help. Even more important than that is to be the type of person that others could come to for help.

When you look at your life, if you are in sales, business development, an entrepreneur or whatever it is that you are doing. When you build rapport with somebody and establish that trust, that connection, that heart, that integrity that is often commoditized in the world, you build up your reputation capital. When people feel comfortable going to you for help, that is the start of a relationship. That is the start of true value in the world now.

I often think that many times, folks may be reticent to take off their masks and ask others for help. It takes a true leader, somebody of courage and confidence to say, “I can\’t get there. I may not have the answer. I\’m okay with being vulnerable and asking others for help.” As Elizabeth Dole said when she ran the Red Cross, “I didn\’t wait for the rivers to fly before I built relationships.”

Never Fly Solo: Lead with Courage, Build Trusting Partnerships, and Reach New Heights in Business

A lot of my speeches are about how do you reinforce relationships with your peers, your coworkers, your vendor partners, and all those men and women in your life? When the missiles do come, when the adversity strikes, you can pick up the phone and say the three most important words in life, which are, “I need help,” and others will be there for you.

Even leaders are afraid to ask for help. They have to ask for help too, sometimes. I know the old adage. The man driving the family around in the car was afraid to ask for directions. It\’s something that is great to hear you say. Nobody is fearless and accomplishes great things without a lot of failure and fear going into it. I was surprised but not shocked to hear that even you were claustrophobic when you started learning how and accomplishing flying those F-16s and similar planes. When did you figure that out? How did you deal with that?

A few years of my many years of flying career, I almost died in a scuba diving accident. It was the first time I had ever been. I was using improper techniques, messing up, and 35 feet under the water, my mask malfunctioned. I inhale a whole lung full of burning salt water. I freaked out, had a panic attack, and didn\’t know when one was up until that moment. Subsequently, for the next 8 years of my 11-year flying career, I had to deal with this phobia, fear, and uncertainty.

I would fly the jet and have had these micro panic attacks instead of being 35 feet out of the water. Now, I’m 35,000 feet in the air. Anybody who\’s seen the cockpit of an F-16, not a lot of movement is allowed in that tiny cockpit. Think about flying seven hours at night and the weather on a combat mission in Iraq, and suddenly, you start having a panic attack. A lot of my story is about how I overcame that fear and stayed in the cockpit and built that resilience, which is so important in life.

I distracted myself from myself. That\’s one of the metaphors or analogies I say. It\’s about focusing on your team. When I was leading young men and women in combat who were scared and depending on me, my teammates who were flying, scared of losing their life and becoming a POW, etc. When you double down on the fact that you are needed, that someone is depending on you, and that you can make a difference for them, you distract yourself from your own fear and become more present in life.

A great leader focuses on their team, understands that others are hurting or have some issues, and encourage, lift, coach, mentor, and help others through the turbulent aspects of life. That\’s a huge concept that I share in my programs. It\’s not about being steely-eyed, Hercules or Superman or Superwoman. It\’s about acknowledging the vulnerabilities, fuses, and others. Doubling down and your responsibility to help them.

Like I said before, also being vulnerable and human enough to say, “Even though I\’m your leader, I need to ask you for help.” I need to reach out to my network and have others lift me up because it often gets lonely at the top. We need others to inspire and get us on the course too because that\’s life. It\’s easy to get blown off course.

You are such a wonderful presence on the stage. You have so much charisma and passion. I wonder if you, as a teammate of your fellow pilots and guys out there with you fighting. You were fighting in combat, and we will talk about that. I wonder because of the amazing personality that you have. You must have become one of the leaders. You must have been chosen to do that, and everybody around you, I\’m imagining, must have looked to you a lot for motivation. A lot of them probably came to you and said, “I need help.”

[bctt tweet=\”When people feel comfortable going to you for help, that is the start of a relationship and true value in the world today. \” username=\”calentertainmnt\”]

I appreciate you saying that because it takes a special leader to have that. It didn\’t happen overnight for me. I was very intense. I\’m a New Yorker. My background is similar to yours. It took a while for me to humble myself and become more empathetic and compassionate. A lot of the stories that I share in my book and on the stage are about when I was rude and demanding instead of commanding. I have been saying, “Be a commander. Not a demander.” I many times was a demander.

It took leaders, my peers, my supervisors, and my commanders to humble me and say, “Waldo, you treated this person disrespectfully.” For example, I chewed out a young crew chief and a technician for messing up something. Using foul language was disrespectful, and my commander got wind of it. He said, “You are going to walk the flight line on a hot sticky summer day for twelve hours like these kids do and see what they do to make sure that these weapons systems on your jet are working, that your cockpit is operating well, and your engine is functioning correctly.”

I was a cocky young guy. It took a leader to have the courage to put me in my place and get me out there and walk the flight line so that connection with those unsung heroes is something important in our life that we need to do to walk the flight line there. We are late with our partners. To understand the diversity of our organizations regardless of your sex, your background, whatever, to realize a human behind the employee, and get your fingers and hands dirty with knowing what they do for work and not taking them for granted.

That\’s a huge lesson that I learned in the military. Once again, I learned it. I\’ve got battle damage and scars in my life because of mistakes that I made. Also, because of great commanders who not only disciplined me when I needed it but also got me an award, flight leader of the quarter and instructor the pilot of the year. I became top of my class and the number one instructor pilot and flight lead that others want to fly with because I learned those lessons. I bounced back and said, “Life is about growth and learning.” That\’s what I want my audiences to learn as well. It\’s not where you start. It\’s where you end, and we are all on a journey.

At the end of your speeches, I know that the clients are always raving. The audiences are always there where you want them to be. They get it, and you put a lot of great ideas into everybody\’s head that I think we forget. We often need to be reminded, so that\’s awesome.

There are a lot of great military speakers out there. I have an MBA. I have been in real-world sales, technology sales, and mergers and acquisitions. I have been out there carving my success in sales before becoming a speaker. I try to differentiate myself by speaking more about the heart and relationships. Not just about the tactics of flying jets. How much can you do in an hour? I want to tap the heart and soul of the audience and inspire them and humanity.

Wingman Philosophy: Many times, folks are reticent to take off their masks and ask others for help. It takes a true leader to say, “I can\’t get there today, but I\’m okay with being vulnerable and asking others for help.”

Being a top gun isn\’t just about doing the best. It\’s about doing your best to be the best and humbling yourself and getting up every day saying, “How do I improve? How do I seek out others? What am I doing in my personal life to build the horsepower and my confidence?” Which may have nothing to do with work, business or flying jets. It may have to do with the people that I\’m hanging out with. The garbage that\’s in my head. The habits, the rituals, the things that may be dragging me down or hopefully lifting me up.

I want to teach and coach and align people with who they are as people, as human beings. Not necessarily as employees or business people because it always starts with the heart, as I like to say. I think more than ever, with the world and the chaos that\’s out there, we need to double down on the authenticity and the blood of relationships, not necessarily the muscle.

Tell me about the audience. Are they asking you to basically bring their teams together? There are a lot of people talking about the in-person people, who are still working virtually, then you have this divide in our country. I don\’t think companies are necessarily going political in their conversations but I feel like I\’m wondering if audiences and event clients are asking you to bridge that gap more than usual?

There is a lot of division. There\’s a lot of chaos and uncertainty, the economy, supply chain issues, and the war for talent, how do you retain and sustain the momentum of your teammates. There are a lot of folks who are trained, who are very capable individuals but another opportunity comes along. Many folks fire their boss, not necessarily leave the company. A lot of it is about, once again, nurturing the human spirit and extracting as much juice from that human as possible.

You can\’t do it by once again being a commander or a demander. Being an old school, for that matter. There has to be empathy, compassion, and connection. Now, I talk about pushing up the throttle, going to full power, and being all-in and committed but to get to the hand, which is about performance, you have to go through the heart. Coming from a fighter pilot, a combat decorated, all the missions that I have been on, and the missiles that I\’ve dodged, the leaders are responsible and truly critical to marinating the stake of the relationship and by being the culture with their DNA.

It starts with 1 relationship, 1 handshake, and 1 conversation at a time. What I try to do is give them some tools for maintaining loyalty, on building that trust, that connection, and also creating environments where people are okay with making mistakes and come to each other for help, as I said. Also, you have partners, vendors, resellers, and channels. There are all these different people that are not only part of the organization that is critical to getting the job done. One of my signature keynotes is 1 team, 1 mission. That\’s a great theme.

[bctt tweet=\”When you double down on the fact that you\’re needed, that someone depends on you, and that you can make a difference for them, you distract yourself from your own fear and become more present in life. \” username=\”calentertainmnt\”]

I\’m wearing this uniform, this flight suit, the patches, the flag, and the name tag. This creates unity, a spirit of collaboration, and trust. We are all flying the same jet. We are all in the same squad and wearing the same uniform. We are all human beings. I speak all over the world as well. There are a lot of global companies that I work for, Siemens and Exxon. I have been over Saudi Arabia. Having an American fighter pilot speak in Saudi. That\’s crazy.

Working with NATO and all these different partner nations, traveling all across Latin America, we realize, particularly in the military and great leaders realized there\’s not much that separates us when you go back to the DNA in the heart. Regardless of if you are working from home, on a Zoom call or working globally across this very multinational type of companies that we are dealing with. If we go back to the human, to the fundamentals, that\’s what I try to share and what clients are needing more than ever because we are disconnected many times. We need to find ways to build that authentic, transparent trust that is often commoditized and can ruin relationships, and partners and drive away revenue.

These themes, I realized here as I\’m listening to you, that I\’ve heard some of these themes before. There are a lot of people who try and talk about these things. I remember watching you on stage and how the presentor, the person who\’s presenting and delivering this message to the audience, is more than half of the battle and that the charisma and the way, the dynamics that the person speaks with are everything. That’s what\’s missing with a lot of speakers and with people who are the best of the best. There is this ability to connect with the audience.

I say that here because we are in a conversation. We are hanging out and talking like we always do but on stage, you have this on-button that you switch. You switch it on, and that\’s why you are a Hall of Famer. I wanted to say that because hearing these messages from you resonates with me. I can say that with authority because I\’ve seen you. You are incredibly talented but I did want to ask you a question before we have to wrap it up at some point soon about the missiles.

There are a lot of people who\’ve climbed the top of Mount Everest. There are a lot of people who have been in the military. I don\’t know if there are a lot of people who have been in combat situations who are New York Times bestsellers and Hall of Fame speakers. You have a lot of boxes that you check. I\’m, as an interested person and a friend, from guy to guy here, you dodged missiles? Tell me a little bit about that, and then you are claustrophobic and having panic attacks on top of that? Tell me how this works.

I’m afraid of heights, I believe it or not. I had to jump off a 33-feet high diving board to graduate from the academy and eventually go to pilot training. I share that story. I share about my parents growing up. My dad and mom were blue-collar. My dad used to say, “Be careful who you spend time with on the weekends. The early bird gets the worm. Don\’t take the easy way out.” My favorite quote in the world is, “When you sip from the fountain, don\’t forget who dug the well.”

Wingman Philosophy: A great leader focuses on their team and understands that others are hurting and having some issues. They encourage and help others through the turbulent aspects of life.

The people who dug your well, the standards, the values, the core, the culture of your organization in your life. That truly is what can\’t be commoditized. We need to increase those standards and create this culture. Once again, I talk about the missiles and will share it about that but mine isn’t about fighter pilot tactics and telling everybody that I\’m a top gun and you are not. I believe, at the end of the day, we are all top guns. We just wear different uniforms.

It\’s about having the courage to step out of those comfort zones. Take some risks. Fight for something greater than yourself. Appreciate your teammates. Be open to feedback. There\’s a concept here called check six. When I was in combat strapped into a jet, I couldn\’t see your most vulnerable position behind you. 6:00 on a clock is behind you. 12:00, 3:00, 9:00, you can see but when you are in this tiny little cockpit, barely able to move, you don\’t know if you are leaking fuel or on fire. If you have a wingman or a wing ma\’am at your right at 3:00 or left at 9:00, they can call out the threat, build your picture, and give you feedback.

This is the crux of all my content about, “I\’m doing my job. I may not see the big picture but you can see something that I may not see.” That\’s why it\’s great about a bureau speaker relationship to nurture that trust, and everybody wins. In combat, I had four surface-to-air missiles launched at me. You could see it looked like a Roman candle from the 4th of July coming at you. These big fire plumes. I\’m doing the funky chicken, trying to avoid them, pigpen, my wingman. There\’s a story behind the Pigpen call sign.

He shoots a missile into that site because he was checking my six. He had my back. He was focused on supporting me. He shot a missile into that radar site that was tracking on me. I dodged the missiles and lived another day. That mutual support, the fact that you may not be able to do it all, that you have a limited perspective, that\’s what allowed me to win. It\’s allowing me to win in business.

I have been doing this for many years. I know that I have to prepare every speech more than I ever did before. The reason why I\’m confident on stage is that I\’m out there the night before, walking the halls, connecting at the cocktail party. I never drink before I speak. I can\’t say I never drank because I will have a sip of wine.

The night before you go on stage. That’s an old drummer’s trick. When you go out there and play for the night, it’s an atmosphere like that but a little sip of whiskey is not a horrible thing for a drummer but not as a speaker.

[bctt tweet=\”Life is about growth and learning. It\’s not where you start; it’s where you end. We\’re all on a journey.\” username=\”calentertainmnt\”]

You have to maintain. You\’ve got to be homeostatically and mentally in tune with the audience, so I\’m prepared. I’m out there jotting down names, and you read any of the testimonies that I will send to you. They are saying, “You prepared. You knew our business from the inside out.” I don\’t care if I\’m a Hall of Fame speaker. The client doesn\’t care. All they want is value, and you better earn your wings. When I\’m up there, I connect because I\’m prepared. Also, I release myself from the outcome and love what I do. I want to help the folks. People are in the dungeon. There are some folks out of potentially suicidal. One of them is in the right job, going through a divorce or some depression.

You think about them when you go out there. You have everybody go push up. Is that what you are telling me that you have every single audience to do? Tell us a little bit about what that means. I\’ve seen it and have been there. I love it. I want everybody to know how you get them there. It\’s not just a, “Okay. Thanks, Waldo.” How do you get them there? What\’s that all about?

It\’s a secret handshake that we used to do in Korea. The 35th fighter squad Republic of South Korea along with DMZ. We did a remote toward duty. Whenever we flew, hit a jam or did it briefing, we would say, “Push it up.” That was time to go to full power. Push it up is what you say when you cross the FEBA, the Forward Edge of the Battle Area, and commit to the enemy.

When you are committing, you see an enemy meg on the nose, enemy aircraft. You say, “Wingman, commit-commit. Push it up.” You go to full power, and you are all-in. There\’s no turning back. I had them do that as one unified team, and it is a little bit hokey. Here\’s the thing. Even though people feel it\’s a little cheesy sometimes, it’s happening.

I don\’t think so. That\’s what I\’m saying. It could have been but it isn\’t when you do it.

It\’s not because as leaders, which every one of us is in the world, you have a choice to push it up or pull it back. You have to sometimes do what you don\’t necessarily want to do. You\’ve got to push forward that throttle. You are leading the way. You are setting the tone for the team, your squad, and your culture. If you are not willing to push it up and make the hard decisions, have the tough conversations, prepare, build the trust, and de-commoditize yourself. You can\’t nurture that with your team.

Wingman Philosophy: Being a Top Gun isn\’t just about doing the best. It\’s about doing your best to be the best, humbling yourself, and getting up every day saying, “How do I improve?”

I try to get them to do that. They love it. We call back to that because it\’s a constant reminder of your duty, your responsibility, and your passion for being a leader, regardless of your role or your position in that organization. It\’s a fun way. More people remember, push it up than anything else. It\’s a call to action. It\’s about taking the fight to the enemy and winning. Winning with honor for your customers, clients, futures, and dreams. I’m passionate about this stuff.

I know, and it gets me every time I talk to you. We feed off of each other a little bit. As you said, we both have a similar style and passion for what we do. Also, I\’m so excited to have you on at this time. A great thing for us to rally around is our country, each other, and humanity because it\’s a tough time. The world has been through a pandemic and is watching a little war going on.

That\’s not so little and what\’s happening is quite tragic. A lot of people are stressed out. When we can look at each other and say, “We are in this together. We are Americans, and it\’s the 4th of July. Hopefully, this pandemic is winding down, and this Russia thing gets resolved soon.” Our future is not that bleak, and we need to stop worrying about the negative news cycles we see every single day on our social media that are pulling us down.

We need to look each other in the eyes and say, “I got you. I\’m here for you. We are in this together. Let\’s kick some you know what in whatever we are doing together.” That\’s why you are the perfect guy to talk to now but also such a great speaker to have out there. Everybody has got you speaking in the next month, 2, 3 or 4. I know it\’s going to be tears, joyful, and stoked, as they always are. Now, as an especially a fun time for you and a great time for you. Also, with the movie is doing billions. It\’s incredible, and I\’m so happy for you that all your life\’s work and everything. This might be the best moment of your career.

I put on here leaders lift. We need to be lifters, not draggers. That\’s what I loved about the movie. That\’s what being a top gun is. It\’s about showing up, giving your best self every single day, nurturing relationships, and working on that inner wingman, the person staring back at you every day. Nurturing and building love in yourself and competence, courage and resilience in yourself so that you can be that partner to others.

When you do that, that\’s what truly brings joy to life. When we can authentically know that we are helping others, we are getting some rewards too. Everybody wants to go out and kick some butt and take some names. We should be ambitious, competitive, and want the best but the best sometimes may not have to do with money, revenue, or even winning. It sometimes means losing the battle to win the long war.

[bctt tweet=\”Leaders need to be lifters, not draggers. \” username=\”calentertainmnt\”]

Understanding that maybe having compassion, connection, and empathy for somebody on your team and nurturing an inconvenience in yourself because you value the relationship more than the sale or whatever it is. That truly creates environments of courage and love in this world. That\’s truly what I\’m an ambassador for. I want to be an ambassador of hope, a comrade of courage, and a connector of hearts. That\’s what I believe, and that\’s who I am as Rob Waldman, Waldo. Not the fighter pilot, not the speaker but the person. That\’s what I try to bring every day. As long as I do that, then I will show up with joy and be thankful for every opportunity to have onstage and off.

A lot of people do forget that when you reach out and you are helping somebody else, it makes you feel so much better as well. When something bad has happened to you, I know there\’s a story about a guy the plane had gone down, and everybody in the plane had died. His own child or wife had died but there were other people in that room who were balling, finding out about this news. He went and talked to these other people, and that\’s what made him feel better. It was helping the others who were going through the same thing he was.

That\’s what you are talking about. It’s this empathy. I love that you keep bringing that up. You are not only empathetic and helpful to others. I know that but also, you are so uplifting and encouraging. You light that fire but not in a cheesy way. In a way that everybody likes and can relate to and appreciate. You\’ve done it again here for me. Every time I talk to you, it\’s a pleasure. I\’m so thankful to you for coming on.

I appreciate it, sincerely, Chris. You are a wing giver, as I like to say. You\’ve got a great reputation. There are a lot of folks that we know in the industry. Our paths have crossed before this call as well. I want to leave you with this. A lot of folks that meet me always say, “Thank you for your service, and I appreciate it a ton.” Especially as we approach the 4th of July but here\’s my advice to any American. Any person, for that matter.

If you truly want to say thank you to the Americans who fight for our country, then simply be the type of American worth fighting for. That\’s how you can make a guy like me and all our troops proud to serve and make every American. Regardless of their skin color, sexuality, background or success, be proud to wear the stars and stripes on their head and their arms, and most importantly, in their heart. I appreciate getting to know you better, Chris. I look forward to flying with you in the future.

Very much looking forward to it. Have a good one, and thanks again.

You got it. Push it up.

Important Links

• Waldo Waldman
• Never Fly Solo
• [email protected]

About Lt. Col. Waldo Waldman

Known as The Wingman, Rob \”Waldo\” Waldman is the author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller Never Fly Solo.

A former combat decorated fighter pilot and sales manager, Waldo is an inspirational sales and leadership keynote speaker and executive coach on building cultures of excellence, collaboration, and courage. Waldo demonstrates how individuals and organizations can break performance barriers and achieve success in highly competitive environments through disciplined training, dedicated teamwork, and passionate leadership. When you combine these elements with an attitude and corporate culture that embraces unwavering trust and commitment, then performance will sky-rocket!

The key to building a culture of trust and winning in business and life lies with your wingmen – those trusted and reliable partners who passionately support the team and help you to overcome obstacles, adapt to change, and achieve success. In business and life, you should never fly solo!

Waldo is a member of the Speaker Hall of Fame – a lifetime award for speaking excellence and professionalsim, with less than 200 inductees to date. He overcame a lifelong battle with claustrophobia and a fear of heights to become a highly decorated fighter pilot with over 65 real world combat missions. His experiences both in the military and in business have taught him that success in business and life is not about combat. Rather, it is about collaboration, commitment, and courage.

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